S. Korea to Withdraw Workers at Factory in N. Korea

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - Seoul says it has decided to withdraw the roughly 175 South Koreans still at a jointly run factory complex in North Korea.

The statement Friday by the country's minister in charge of inter-Korean relations raises a major question about the future of the last major symbol of inter-Korean cooperation.

Seoul's announcement follows an earlier North Korean rejection of a South Korean demand for talks on the factory park that has been closed nearly a month. Seoul says it's worried about its workers not having access to food and medicine.

Pyongyang's powerful National Defense Commission earlier said Seoul's demand for working-level talks was deceptive and that ongoing U.S.-South Korean military drills and the spreading of anti-North Korea leaflets at the border were proof of Seoul's insincerity.